


A 9-5 Job

by Skadisdottir



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drowning, F/M, Fluff, Lifeguard Reader, Loki Learns CPR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 00:55:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19878928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skadisdottir/pseuds/Skadisdottir
Summary: Reader is a lifeguard at the Avengers compound, on her first day at the job, the unthinkable happens. Fascinated by all things human, Loki asks the reader to teach him how to save a life, now that his powers have been taken from him.(Something short to try to get rid of my writers block...)





	A 9-5 Job

This was your third summer as a lifeguard in New York City, hopping from YMCA and Boys and Girls Club as you tried to make enough to pay the tuition costs of your Political Science degree. Easier said than done when you make minimum wage in a blue collar city. So that’s why you jumped at the chance to lifeguard at the Avengers Compound. 9-5 job watching a bunch of superheroes swim? You may as well have been asked to watch paint dry. 

15 dollars an hour was 15 dollars an hour either way and you had a payment coming up come the end of the month, so Monday morning you put on your two piece suit, shorts and tank top and drove the 15 minutes from your rented room to the compound entrance. Flashing your ID card that was sent to you via drone (goddamn Tony Stark) your beat up Toyota Corolla was allowed entry, and you pulled into the parking lot behind the newly dug pool. After the war on New York just over 3 years prior, the compound had been opened, and this was the first weekend of the pool, which was open to the victims and families of the fallen. It was a nice gesture from the Avengers, as it gave people the chance to meet them face to face, and then the pool was closed off, and once again the Heroes of the Battle of New York returned to their anonymity.

The pool was to open at 10 Am, and as you pulled up to the pool, you saw a singular form gliding up and down the lane. You watched for a moment as you keyed into the guard shed and looked at the chemical readout for the pool. The high tech system meant no more dropping R-0871 drop by drop and guessing the chlorine levels. How colourblind people ever became guards, you had no idea... suppose they just... guessed. 

Chuckling to yourself, you stripped off your shirt as you felt the heat of the day already rising, then your shorts soon after. Your body shifted in the coolness of the shed, and you caught a glance at your form in the mirror. The Athleticism of a swimmer was probably the best way to describe you, and you were proud of the confidence given to you by your part time profession. 

The clock on the wall read 9:00 exactly so you grabbed your stuff and made your way to the chair to survey what you were looking at. The form was still swimming, and was going pretty fast for a long period of time, he had probably done 20 lengths in the 15 minutes you had been there. He was a strong swimmer so you paid him little mind besides the occasional glance as you checked all of the equipment. To your sort of surprise, there was a lightning monitor on the back of the chair, and an automatic Emergency Action Protocol switch on the side. It would send an emergency signal to the compound and that would alert the on site medical team. It was kind of impressive to hear about during orientation, even more so to see it. 

The medical kit was also to the side, and you had seen in the guard shed an additional kit, beside which was a backboard, and an Auto CPR machine and AED. Stark had spared no expense in the name of safety, and it honestly was kind of endearing.

The sound of someone pushing out onto the pool deck had your attention shifting fully to the water as you watched as the young man climbed out of the water and gathered a towel before wiping his face with his back turned. Crossed along his back was scars, whip and burn marks, long since healed but still looked like they had hurt when they occurred. A strange looking medallion hung from his neck and pressed against his chest. The gold and green seemed to glow in the early morning light and when he spoke it was like the jewelry had a trance over you. 

“It isn’t polite to stare.” Your eyes snapped up to his and you felt your blood run cold at the sight of his face. You knew him. You knew you did, and this solidified it. You remembered his face from a presentation in Extraterrestrial Diplomacy class. This was the man who attacked New York. You fought the urge to turn away from him. The stare down continued and after a slight smirk and a nod he hung the towel over his neck and walked from the pool deck, the gate clicking with the promise of unfinished conversation.

The first few families arrived shortly after 9:45, one man, an Air Force veteran you had learned from idle conversation, and his twin daughters arrive with his wife and sister, a Marine vet. They had served with a man named “Rhodey”. The first was missing most of his leg from the mid thigh down on the right side. And his sister was quiet, her back never to a door. The twin girls stayed mostly in the shallow, playing at gymnastics in the water. You watched them carefully, but years of training told you that they wouldn’t be a problem, so you continued to scan those on the pool deck as they settled in to the surroundings. 

By 12, the pool was full, about 25 in the water and 10-15 surrounding. It was a lot, but there was the drowning sensor and multiple parents in the water watching the youngest. Some of the Avengers had made appearances throughout the day, and as the day wore on, you found yourself looking for the one you had recognized, Loki. 

As the final few people started to peeter out, and the afternoon sun reflected off the water, there was a few of the veterans remaining,having a beer or two on the deck as Captain America, “Steve ma’am, please”- and two other men, who had been introduced to you as Sam and James “Rhodey” Rhodes all joked and told war stories. Loki had returned and had resumed his laps from the morning as the sister, Dennise played with her nieces. 

A sudden “BANG” had every eye turning and muscles tensing, a car had backfired on the road and from experience with your uncle, you knew what that meant in a room of people who had experienced what these had. The hair on your neck stood up as you felt dread fill you. It was seconds before the alarm went off that you saw Dennise sink to the bottom. You flicked the switch on the side of your chair, and yelled “CLEAR THE POOL” before diving from your position and was to the bottom of the 9 foot pool, your tube floating above you. Dennise was clawing up at you, her mouth open and eyes staring unblinking up at the surface. 

Hooking your arms under hers and pushing up with all your might from the bottom, you kicked furiously to the surface and pulled your tube up, under her back and pushed her head up to the surface to air. She sputtered and coughed, and you knew that she was seconds from either passing out from the water in her lungs, or the flashback that was blocking her vision and causing her to lash out at you. 

“Someone grab the back board, or help me pull her out!” You called out and as you swam to the side, to your surprise Loki was waiting by the side of the pool to offer you a hand in pulling her up and out of harms way. As he pulled her up, you pushed up onto the pool deck and sat her up. She continued to cough but soon her eyes rolled back and you swore under your breath. 

Checking her pulse it was rapid and weak. You laid her gently on her back and positioned yourself for CPR. “Dennise!” you heard a terrified cry as the vet realized what had happened. 

“Get your girls out of the pool and off of the pool deck.” You spoke as you counted the compression in your head. Giving the two breaths you continued the compression before turning your head to Loki. “Make sure the medical personnel have been called.” You ordered and he nodded once before doing as he was told. 

“Come on Dennise, you’re stronger than that.” You spoke before giving two more breaths. To your relief, she coughed out the remaining water and sat up looking around frantically. You gave her the room to breathe and accepted the shock blanket from Stark to wrap around her. 

“Dennise, do you know what happened?” She nodded breathlessly and turned to you, tired. 

“Thank you.” You nod, allowing her to stand and be checked by the EMS as they arrived, escorted by a calm Loki. The rest of the men cleared the area and you grabbed a towel from the shack to dry yourself. This wasn’t your first save, but it never gets easier. You calmed your shaking hands with a drink from your water bottle and a deep breath. There was still an hour left on your shift and you didn’t want to seem unprofessional. 

Steeling yourself you walked back out to the chair to climb back on, when you felt a hand tap the chair. “Hey, I don’t mind, you can go home early... I don’t think anyone is going to swim any more... I’ll still pay you for the day, and then some...” Stark was standing awkwardly to the side of you, shifting from foot to foot. 

“Mister Stark, all due respect, but if I had to go home after every save, I would be out of a job.” you smiled and he looked to your shaking hand. He raised an eyebrow and you clenched the fist, returning the cool stare. He held up his hands in surrender and backed away, walking from the pool deck behind the receding crowd. 

You gathered up your things and put them in the shed as you began the closing procedures. Checking the chemicals again, and the filters you were almost finished when a knock sounded on the wooden door beside you. You turned up to the soft noise and furrowed your brows in surprise at the form of Loki standing in the doorway. 

“Can I help you?” You asked, watching as he looked... uncomfortable? He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. Your eyes drifted to the medallion around his neck again and then back to him. “Loki?” You tried again and he seemed surprised at the use of his name. 

“Can.. you teach me how to do that?” It was your turn to go quiet, you voiced your confusion and he rubbed the back of his neck. “That... thing, you did. To get that woman to breath again.” You tilted your head. 

“You... want me to teach you CPR?” You leaned back against the table behind you, crossing your arms now covered in a spare sweatshirt you had in your car. “I thought you had magic or whatever.” He mimicked your stance against the doorway.

“Not since they put this on me.” He lifted the Medalion and let it drop back to his chest. 

“Can’t you take it off?” You asked taking a step forward. He moved back, and you took the silent request for space, and the silent answer. “Well, I can teach you CPR, but... not tonight.” you held up your shaking hands. And he nodded in understanding. And let you pass as you hefted your bag over your shoulder. 

You made your way to your car and as you clicked the lock you heard him call out. “I feel extremely foolish as I never asked your name.” You turned back to him and smiled. 

“(Y/n).” You said as you opened your door and closed it without giving him a moment to respond. 

___________________________________________________________

The next morning, you arrived early again, and found Loki swimming his laps again. You wondered if this was his daily ritual, and for some reason it felt oddly... human, for a man who wasn’t. Or was he? Now that his powers had been taken from him. 

You pondered more on this as you went through the filters and the chemicals, skimming as you needed to before returning to the chair. Loki finished his laps and climbed out of the pool. It was empty at the time so when he approached you again you smiled. 

“If you’re still willing to learn, I have some time.” You responded to his silent question and he nodded. 

Climbing down from the stand, you moved into the shed and pulled out the Red Cross dummy you had borrowed from an EMT friend to practice on. Loki looked at it with curious contempt and you laid it on the ground beside the pool. You motioned him over and he knelt beside it. “I won't make you go through the whole tapping on the shoulder and asking of the clearly unconscious person if they need help nonsense. I’ll just show you how to position your hands.” You went through the motions of hand placement and compressions, and for the next hour, you taught him how CPR works, and how the auto CPR and AED made life easier. The pool remained empty for the remainder of the day. Apparently, a meeting had been called to work through the incidents of yesterday, and a lot of people were nervous to go in. You gave it a week before there was a full pool again. 

As your shift came to an end, you and Loki had spent the afternoon trading stories. You told him of your prior saves, of the one you didn’t, and he told you of times he had watched healers, and his mother go through the same. By the time 5 pm came around, you didn’t want to leave. Apparently, in the years since the attack, he had begun to tolerate the humans, and you had learned that he had wanted to study them, and learn from them as a way to occupy his mind. 

Loki walked you to your car that night and as you got into the driver’s seat he seemed uncomfortable again. “Is.. everything okay?” you asked, now used to his silences as him thinking seriously of what to say next. 

He took another moment before catching your eyes. “ Would you be so opposed to accompany me for a meal, I rather enjoy speaking to you, and... would like to learn more about earth politics.” You smiled and nodded. 

“I would like that very much. I want to hear more about Asgard.” You found yourself amazed at the political choices of the realm of the Gods. Of which you had learned about in Mythology class. Only now it was less Mythology, and more astro-physics. He seemed to smile sadly, and then nodded. “How about Friday, after my shift. I heard there’s a fry-cart opening up by the lake, I’ve been meaning to try it.” 

“A..Fry-cart?” He nodded then moved away from the car. “Friday...” He seemed to pause and smile to himself. “I look forward to it.” 

“Me too.” You responded. 

In all of your years, you had never wanted a Friday to come any quicker.

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably really bad but I had the idea at work.... so...


End file.
